Development of a hybrid electromagnetic shielding fabric
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Date
2011
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Abstract
According to World Health Organization [1],
exposure to electromagnetic fields is not a new
phenomenon. However, during the 20th century,
environmental exposure to man-made
electromagnetic fields has been steadily increasing
as growing electricity demand, ever-advancing
technologies and changes in social behavior.
Everyone is exposed to a complex mix of weak
electric and magnetic fields, both at home and at
work. Sources of such emissions could include
generation and transmission of electricity, domestic
appliances and industrial equipment,
telecommunications and broadcasting. If the
electromagnetic waves are not isolated effectively,
they will cause interference with each other and
result in technical errors. If somebody gets exposed
under the electromagnetic, radiate environment,
physical harms may occur on human body [2,3].
Metal is considered to be the best electromagnetic
shielding material due its conductivity and
permeability, but it is expensive, heavy, and may
also have thermal expansion and metal oxidation, or
corrosion problems associated with its use. In
contrast, most synthetic fabrics are electrically
insulating and transparent to electromagnetic
radiation [4].
In recent years, conductive fabrics have obtained
increased attention for electromagnetic shielding
and anti-electrostatic purposes. This is mainly due to
their desirable flexibility and lightweight. One way
how conductive fabrics can be created is by using
minute electrically conductive fibers. They can be
produced in filament or staple lengths and can be
incorporate with traditional non-conductive fibers to
create yarns that possess varying degrees of
conductivity. Another way represents conductive
coatings which can transform substrates into
electrically conductive materials without
significantly altering the existing substrate
properties. They can be applied to the surface of
fibers, yarns or fabrics. The most common are metal
and conductive polymer coatings.
In this paper, a hybrid electromagnetic shielding
fabrics are introduced. An effect of metal content is
studied and a form of relation between resistivity
and total shielding effectiveness ST is proposed.
First group of fabrics is made of hybrid yarns
containing metal staple fibers, second group of
fabric are polypropylene twill with mesh composed
of hybrid yarns containing POP and metal fiber.
Description
Subject(s)
Electric conductivity, Electromagnetic shielding efficiency, Hybrid fabrics, Metal fiber